


What About Me?

by CLADD



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-03
Updated: 2017-02-03
Packaged: 2018-09-21 20:28:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,209
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9565028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CLADD/pseuds/CLADD
Summary: "Rick watched, shocked, as both of her arms flew out in front of her, and she threw all of her weight into shoving Daryl to the ground."





	

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little fluffy sweetness to give Caryl shippers a happy day. Set in Alexandria, after Conquer.

Seriously?” Carol thought to herself as she left Aaron’s house and walked down the block in Alexandria. “He thought no one would notice? He's got to be kidding.” With every step towards her house, she moved further away from being incredulous and slid further into anger.   

“Where is he?” Carol snapped at Michonne, who was sitting on the porch of the house that she, Carol, Daryl and Rick’s family shared. The samurai was reading a book, and barely looked up as she pointed over her shoulder towards the side street where the garage was attached to their house.  

She knew exactly who Carol was referring to, even without the luxury of a name, and she raised an eyebrow as Carol hurried around the corner of the house. She smirked, wondering what Daryl had done to piss her friend off. The flare of Carol’s nostrils and the tone of her voice told Michonne it was something big.  

As she walked around the house, Carol saw Daryl squatting beside his motorcycle at the curb, tinkering with the engine. Rick was standing close by, and Carol could tell by Rick’s posture, hands on his hips, that they were discussing “business”- Supply runs, security or recruiting. Carol did not care in the least that she would be interrupting.  

“Excuse me, Rick,” Carol apologized as she charged into the four feet of space between him and Daryl. Rick watched, shocked, as both of her arms flew out in front of her, and she threw all of her weight into shoving Daryl to the ground.  

Daryl, surprised by the attack, didn’t even have time to reach out and break his fall. He lay exactly as he had been squatting, on his side, on the ground. 

“What about me!?” Carol barked at him as she bent over him. She poked him roughly in the arm with the fingers of one hand, emphasizing each word. 

“What the hell, Carol?” Daryl looked up at her with a look of both shock and amusement. What the hell was she talking about? 

Rick watched with fascination, as his stupid, _stupid_ brother smirked at Carol. _Uh oh._ He was sure that any second he would see steam coming out of her ears. Everyone knew rule number one in the man code manual stated, _Thou_ _shall_ _NEVER, EVER_ _laugh at a woman when she is angry._   He backed himself down the sidewalk several steps before he turned and high tailed it towards the front of the house,  knowing he didn’t want to be present for what might ensue.  

When Daryl’s smirk registered with Carol, she dropped her weight onto him, straddling his hip. One hand flashed out and she gripped his cheeks between her fingers, smooshing the grin right off his face. Then she pinched his side with her free hand. Just because. 

Daryl looked like a fish, she realized. A startled fish. It would have been amusing, really, if she wasn’t so angry.  

Carol would never truly try to hurt him. They both knew it. Daryl was surprised at her fervor, though. He would simply let her play this out until she was ready to talk about whatever was aggravating her. He was getting a kick out of sassy Carol. He wouldn’t dare smirk at her again, though. Her pinch hurt. 

“Oo wanna tell mw but bis is oll abvt?” he tried to ask her.  

He looked so fucking cute in his attempt to speak, she could have throttled him. She squeezed his cheeks together harder, instead. 

“Bvjesus!” Daryl grunted in discomfort, grabbing her hands and pulling them off his face.  

“Aughhh!” Carol gave a guttural yell of frustration and slapped his hands away. She pushed the palms of both of her hands into his face, kneading it like play doh, just to make the point that she could put her hands on his face if she wanted to, whether he liked it or not. Daryl slapped _her_ hands away this time.  

“What. About. _Me_ _?_!” Carol yelled at him. Her own intensity seemed to startle her and she sat back, removing her hands from his face. 

Daryl watched her, perplexed, her chest suddenly heaving as she sucked in a staccato breath. 

Her lip quivered. 

A single tear trailed down her cheek as she stared at him.   

He waited. He knew she was close. He shifted onto his back on the ground, so that she was sitting on his stomach, making it easier to look her in the eye. It killed him to see her cry, more so because it seemed he was the cause. He wanted to comfort her, but he knew her well enough to know she wasn’t ready yet, so he put a hand on each of her hips and waited.  

Carol reached out with one finger and played with one of the buttons on the chest of his sleeveless shirt, while she pulled her thoughts together. 

“Aaron told me what you did,” she finally spoke, “and I know why you did it.” 

 _Ugh_. Aaron had a big mouth. Daryl knew exactly what she was talking about. It was the fact that he was going to sacrifice himself in the Wolves' trap, drawing away walkers, so that Aaron would have a chance to save himself. He gave her the smallest of nods, and then had to look away from her intense gaze. She knew him so well. 

Carol knew he was willing to sacrifice himself because he felt Aaron’s life had more value than his own. It broke her heart.  

“You can’t see it, can you?” she asked him. “You can’t see how important you are to this group. None of us would have survived all this time without you, Daryl! You provided our whole family with food when we would have starved. Judith wouldn’t be here without your formula run. Sasha and Glenn would have died if you hadn’t made the run to the veterinary college. Rick told me how he would have been bitten during the Governor’s first attack on the prison if it wasn’t for one of your bolts killing the walker attacking him!”  

She reached out and cupped his cheek, turning his head so he met her eyes again. “And you do it all without asking for anything in return.” 

“You are so, _so_ good,” she told him as she patted his heart with her hand. “And you can’t even see it.” She let out a little sob at the thought. 

Daryl shrugged his shoulders as he looked at her. She could see the struggle in his eyes as he tried to believe her.  

“But Aaron has Eric…” he started, as if it was a reason to shrug off everything she’d just said. As if Aaron’s relationship justified his sacrifice.  

Carol shook her head in exasperation and grabbed his face with one hand again, squeezing his cheeks more gently, in frustration, as she had before. “Oh, my god, Daryl Dixon! You are so dense!” She let go of his face and fell forward so they were chest to chest, nose to nose. 

“What about me?” she breathed against his lips. He stared at her for several seconds, and suddenly a look of understanding and then wonder crossed his face. 

“Yeah?” he marveled.  

“Yeah.” She smiled. 


End file.
